[megatherium]

I would like to take the writer seriously but although he identifies himself as a scientist, I can't seem to find what his credentials, affiliation or even his specialty are. Does anyone know what these are for him?

I get nervous when someone asserts that a problem is too complicated to tackle. He questions the reliability of the current global climate (computer) models, but neglects to mention that these have been succesfully tested on real-world conditions. E.g., if you plug in the initial conditions resulting from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo (1991), the models correctly predict the amount and duration of the resulting global cooling.

[highimpact]

I get nervous when someone asserts that a problem is too complicated to tackle. He questions the reliability of the current global climate (computer) models, but neglects to mention that these have been succesfully tested on real-world conditions.

Wrong. My brother has a Ph.D in atmospheric science and he BUILDS the computer models that you're talking about. His advice: "don't ever trust a weather forecast more than two days out." If they can't predict local weather patterns more than a couple days into the future, what confidence do you have that they can predict global weather patterns years in advance?

E.g., if you plug in the initial conditions resulting from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo (1991), the models correctly predict the amount and duration of the resulting global cooling.

Those models only worked after the fact. Occasionally a computer model will actually "predict" a weather event to some degree of accuracy, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[steve8714]

He's enough of a scientist to state the obvious correctly, without ever denying the possibility that the other side may be right. he just introduces a HEALTHY SKEPTICISM TO AN EMOTION CHARGED DEBATE.

[tioga]

Weather forecasting is notoriously WRONG! He states the obvious, global warming is a theory. That's all it is. It is not proven science.

[steve8714]

Oops, overuse of caps lock..

[oh8eleven]

I would like to take the writer seriously but although he identifies himself as a scientist, I can't seem to find what his credentials, affiliation or even his specialty are.
What's the difference? Even if he's your newspaper boy, his explanations were simple and logical enough for anyone to understand.

[Ditto]

He questions the reliability of the current global climate (computer) models, but neglects to mention that these have been succesfully tested on real-world conditions.

Like they predicted the 2006 hurricane season?

[Old Professer]

" if you plug in the initial conditions resulting from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo (1991), the models correctly predict the amount and duration of the resulting global cooling."

That's the first I've heard of that claim; is this from a published study or another source?

BTW, how much global cooling was there and what years did it last?

[lepton]

but neglects to mention that these have been succesfully tested on real-world conditions. E.g., if you plug in the initial conditions resulting from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo (1991), the models correctly predict the amount and duration of the resulting global cooling.

Only after the fact, and including a number of fudges. They do not successfully predict anything into the future from when they were designed. This isn't solving the equation, it's fitting the curve.